I dread to think what you've been producing if this is your reaction.

Cant wait to see u in a bikini on board this Vessell???

Well said! I wish more people knew about Lou - I've learnt a lot from watching this channel.

Utter rubbish!

He used glass and carbon fiber in the last skiff build too....

like Lou said in one episode: it does not hurt you at all to go slow :)

It's truly frightening to read these comments, it shows how much ignorance about boat building there is out there.

You say the version he is using is specifically for use with epoxy as a binder in the mat but that it isn't compatible with epoxy?

@@jeremiah1059 If epoxy resin is used, there's no need for matt. The binder chemicals used to keep matt together until the resin saturates it are rarely if ever compatible with epoxy, so the Matt just sucks up resin and adds weight. The 1708 WITH a light matt backing is usually for use with polyester resins that WILL break down the binder and contribute to the bond.

@@highlinercustomboats1816 okay. So is he doing it wrong in your opinion or just adding an unnecessary step/unnecessary weight?

Medulary rays ?

Charles, I use cloth that wets out perfectly, as it is matched (...is coated with a coupling agent) to the resin system. And that cloth is regular weave. It works well. You cannot chop-strand that lay over method for multi-directional strength (which you don't actually get from plywood either), and it'd look like an interior finish, taking forever to fine down. An answer on a larger boat is multiple layers of thinner cloth. Time consuming as hell. The surf board guys who work in epoxy have shown me the best techniques, and they have keen graphics to show through for their clients. But scaling it up for the big boat, well, that's a skill. I think Lou might benefit from the waft of a heat gun here and there, just as it get a bit uncompliant, but way-to-go.

Sir have you work with Carbon/Kevlar fiber? Like to ask a Question

@@gregoryh4601 What do you want built or repaired

@@gregoryh4601 It's pretty obvious by my comment that I'm either a liar, armchair quarterback, or someone with expirence if fabrication/repair materials, in this case composits. You decide, I will contimnue to do what i do and make a ton of money doing it.

Agreed and noted

Oh diese Bedenkenträger, DIN-Normen- Liebhaber und Anweisungs-Befolger. Geh' ma davon aus, das Lou das nicht das erste Mal macht und schon seine Erfahrung hat. Nicht jede Anleitung hat das Ziel, das man es richtig machen soll, sondern auch, dass man z.B. seinen eigenen teuren Verdünner verkauft

That makes sense about moisture spreading. Water could get sucked along the length of a fiber, but since the fibers are just short strands, each strand is a dead end. (Granted this applies to laminates of CSM and polyester or vinylester resin. I've never seen anyone suggest using CSM with epoxy is a good idea.)

@@fredygump5578 RE: fiberglass boat building- I learned that it is gellcoat that is the first line of defense against delamination and unfortunately people are under the impression that it is a cosmetic thing. If the gellcoat is maintained and repaired there will be no delamination due to water ingress. Sometimes an almost micro-thin very tight weave skin coat is applied first before the matt to reinforce the gelcoat, it provides no structural strength. Epoxy and matt is not a good idea matt soaks up resin big time and makes a heavy boat not to mention it is too expensive to use that way and offers no appreciable advantage. The way to make a lightweight epoxy boat is vacuum infusion, a whole nother ballgame. These are usually competition extremely expensive boats that few can afford. Production boat construction is still polly or more common nowadays vinylester. If you would try to make a common layup production boat of epoxy it would be too heavy and twice the cost, not advisable needed, practical or necessary. If you are interested there is a good book called the Composites Manufacturing Fundamentals of Materials, Methods, and Applications by A. Brent Strong. There is an online pdf but I recommend the pricy hardcopy complete with all the pictures. Good luck and don’t forget to have fun- I have a yourube boating channel if…

I was just thinking the same thing!

Yeah. According to the MSDS, West System epoxy resin 105 has 10-30 percent benzyl alcohol in it. That is kind of a lot of non-reactive diluent. So maybe that is why West System advises against any additional thinning. There are lower viscosity epoxy resins out there that would not need to be thinned, I don't think. But I also tend to think That Lou knows what he is doing.

@@mckenziekeith7434 he certainly knows what hes doing. I done a wee test with two bits of 12mm marine once, both with 200gram boat cloth. one batch of epoxy thinned with epoxy thinners, The other batch straight from the can. I found the one that had been wet out with thinned epoxy you could physically peel the cloth from the plywood.

@@caseydixon8714 Yikes! Nowadays there are some pretty low viscosity resins out there (intended for infusion) so I don't really see that there should be a need to think epoxy.

@@caseydixon8714 Smart of you to do the test. A good idea for anyone trying something out with epoxy.

@@mckenziekeith7434 they advise against it because they're in the business of selling resin.

Right? Damn near torpedo proof!

West System Epoxy resin 105 is somewhere between 10 and 30 percent benzyl alcohol (a non reactive solvent). This is from the datasheet for West System 105. www.westsystem.com/wp-content/uploads/105-SDS.pdf

Benzyl alcohol has a very high boiling point and maybe it will never evaporate out of the cured resin leaving voids behind. But it may also be part of why West System recommends against further thinning of their epoxy. It is already thinned by West System at the factory, and further thinning will make it too weak.